Wrist support



July 19, 1966 B. w. JOSEPH 3,261,026

WRIST SUPPORT Filed July 12. 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

BLANCHARD W. JOSEPH ATTORNEY July 19, 1966 B. w. SEPH 3,261,026

,WRIS'I'V SUPPORT Filed July 12; 1965 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

BLANCHARD W JOSEPH ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,261,026 WRIST SUPPORT Blanchard W. Joseph, Twin View Heights, RR. 2, Solon, Iowa Filed July 12, 1965, Ser. No. 471,232 1 Claim. (Cl. 2-161) This invention concerns wrist supports, especially for athletic purposes, providing added power to wrist action as well as tending to strengthen the wrist itself.

Wrist supports incorpoarting the present invention empoly a catapult principle; that is to say, bending of the wrist in one direction applies tension to a resilient member so that when the wrist is flexed in the opposite direction for the power stroke, the contraction of the resilient member provides added force increasing the effective power of the wrist movement. Generally described, the support takes the form of one or more elastic bands secured by suitable means at one of their corresponding ends above the wrist joint, extending therefrom along the hand, their other corresponding ends being anchored adjacent the base of the fingers. The use of elastic bands, or other nonmetallic or nonrigid members, largely eliminates discomfort arising from supports employing metallic springs or other rigid devices. Preferably, the support is incorporated into a glove of one form or another, depending particular-1y upon the use or sport in which the support is employed.

For instance, in the case of a support suitable for tennis, a pair of elastic bands may be used, one extending along the back and the other along the front or palm of the hand for increased power when the wrist is flexed for backhand or forehand shots, respectively. Similar arrangements might be used in the case of baseball for pitching or batting or in the case of bowling. In the case of golf, with which the present invention is particularly concerned, a single elastic band may be used, extending either centrally along the back of the hand for those players employing a hinge bend of the wrist, or asymmetrically along the back of the hand toward the far side of the wrist for those players employing a cocked bend of the wrist. In either event, the support is incorporated in a glove which may be of any suitable nature.

Accordingly, the chief object of the present invention is the provision of a wrist support providing increased power to wrist action by the wearer thereof, tending at the same time to strengthen the wrist itself, yet which does not cause the wearer any discomfort. This and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of two preferred forms thereof, for use particularly by golfers, read in conjuiction with the following drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a prospective view of the back of a glove, certain portions thereof being cut away in order to show a first form or embodiment of the invention for use by golfers using a cocked wrist bend;

FIGURE 2 is a prospective view of the front of the glove of FIGURE 1, certain portions being cut away for better illustration;

FIGURE 3 illustrates the glove and wrist support of FIGURES l and 2, certain portions of the glove being broken away, and the type of cocked wrist bend for which the first embodiment is used;

FIGURE 4 is similar to FIGURE 1 and illustrates the second form or embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 5 illustrates the wrist support of FIGURE 4 and the type of hinge wrist bend for which the second embodiment is used, additionally illustrating a form of such embodiment for use without a glove proper; and

3 ,261,026 Patented July 19, 1966 "ice FIGURE 6 illustrates a typical glove which may be used with either embodiment of the invention.

As mentioned, preferably the wrist support of the present invention is incorporated into a suitable glove, indicated at 10 in the drawings. Glove 10 may have full or truncated fingers and thumb portions 11 andis secured about the wearers wrist by suitable means such as straps 12 and buckles 13. The support proper comprises essentially a flexible band 14 of suitable, tensionally resilient elastic disposed so that its elastic force acts generally longitudinally along the wearers hand. The outer end 15 of band 14 is suitably secured, as by stitching 16, to the inner surface of glove 10 adjacent the base of the finger port-ions 11. The remaining end 17 of band 14 is likewise secured to suitable means surrounding the wrist just above the wrist joint so as to anchor same thereto and prevent slippage when tension is applied to band 14. The means illustrated employs a flexible circlet 18 of so-called nap type of fastening to which the end of band 14 is stitched at 19. The fasteners of circlet 18 employ barbs or hooks on one surface thereof and a raised nap on the other surface such that when the ends 20 and 21 are overlapped and pressed together the hooks of one end interengage the-nap of the overlapping portion of the other end. An opposite force readily disengages the ends for removal of the support. Fastening material of this sort is sold under the trademark Velcro by American Velcro, Inc., of New York, NY. Preferably, a circlet 18 itself is also elastic in nature in order to permit the inner end 17 of band 14 to be anchored tightly to the wrist.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURES 1 through 3, the band 14 is asymmetrically disposed between the back of the hand and the far side of the wrist in order to accommodate the cocked wrist bend illustrated in FIG- URE 3. In the embodiment shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, on the other hand, the band 14 is disposed centrally along the back of the hand in order to accommodate the hinge type of wrist bend shown in FIGURE 5. Generally speaking, the band 14 is disposed so that it is operative chiefly in the plane of the particular movement of the wrist employed in whatever sport or other use in which the support is to be utilized. The same is true in those cases where two bands may be used to affect wrist movement in two opposite directions, such as in tennis. It may also be preferable to arrange the support so that even in the neutral position of the hand with respect to the wrist a certain amount of tension is nevertheless applied by band 14, tending initially to bend the hand somewhat in the direction of the intended power stroke. The fact that the band or bands 14 act along the hand in the general direction of its movement greatly increases the comfort and effectiveness of the support in contrast to prior art devices which, although designed to prevent or minimize wrist flexure, act more or less in a direction normal to the surface of the hand and are often quite bulky.

The support may be employed alone, without being incorporated into a glove proper, as illustrated in FIGURE 5, it being only desirable that the outer end 15 of the band 14 be anchored to the base of all of the fingers of the hand. As shown in FIGURE 5, this may be easily accomplished by stitching the outer end 15 of band 14 at 22 to the inner end of a kind of abbreviated glove 23 having only truncated finger portions 24 for each finger joined at their bases to form a sort of cap 25.

While the present invention has been described in particular terms and detailed descriptive langauge has been employed, it is nevertheless not so limited. Instead, the following claim is to be read as encompassing all modifications and adaptations of the invention falling within the spirit and scope thereof.

I claim:

In combination with a glove having finger portions individually receiving the fingers of the hand of a wearer and a hand enveloping portion, a wrist support comprising a flexible, :tensionally resilient band secured at one end to said finger portion along the base thereof and extending therefrom generally along the far side of the hand to the wrist, the other end of said band carrying means effective to secure said end about the wrist of the wearer just above the wrist joint against displacement when there is tension upon said band, said band having a length such that there is tension thereon when the hand of the wearer is in a position in which it is bent at the wrist to its maximum extent in the direction toward the far side of the hand is bent away from said position in the direction toward the near side of the hand.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

hand, the tension on said band increasing as the wearers 15 G. V. LARKIN. Assistant Examiner. 

